Originally Posted by
HCM
It’s really not nuanced and DACA is not relevant to criminal immigration violations.
Putting aside various forms of fraud such as obtaining genuine documents by fraud, being an impostor to a travel document, or use of counterfeit documents, etc..
Illegal or improper entry by an alien is a misdemeanor under title eight US code section 1325. However, it is not a continuing offense. If they are not apprehended out or near the border, it becomes a civil / administrative matter.
Going back to DACA, DACA is not a lawful immigration status. Is just an application of an existing legal provision in the immigration and nationality act called “deferred action.” It is literally just a formal promise by the government to not take immigration enforcement action against the alien for a period of time if the alien complies with certain conditions.
Under DACA, DACA recipients usually also receive an employment authorization document which allows them to legally work in the United States to avoid them becoming “a public charge.”
However, an illegal alien granted DACA otherwise remains an illegal alien. This is true regardless of whether they entered illegally, or they initially entered legally then overstayed or otherwise violated the terms of their admission.
There is case law specific to 18 USC 922(g)(5) (illegal alien in possession of firearm or ammunition) in which DACA recipients were prosecuted for possession of firearms ammunition.
Regarding international travel by DACA recipients. In order to travel internationally and return to the United States DACA recipients have to obtain a form of travel permit called in advance parole letter.
DACA recipients can only travel abroad for education, employment, or humanitarian purposes such as seeking medical treatment, visiting an ailing relative, or attending funeral services for a family member.
Parole into the United States is a legal mechanism, but it does not constitute a legal admission to the United States.
In most applications, persons are paroled into the United States for public benefits, such as witnesses or criminal prosecution, or for humanitarian reasons such as for medical treatment. Essentially parole is a mechanism that allows them to physically enter the United States while legally they are considered stopped at the border.
Advance parole letters are a sort of loophole or workaround that allows people who could not otherwise leave the US and get back in to duck out and come back as if their departure never happened.
Regarding aliens, illegal, or otherwise and criminality. In general aliens are a bell curve like everybody else.
There are two factors that affect your likelihood of being the victim of a crime perpetrated by an alien. The first is location. In some states and in the federal system aliens make up 30 to 40% of the prison population. In other states, they’re around 10%.
The other factor is demographics. Up until recently illegal immigrants tended to be overwhelmingly, young and male. Those numbers have changed a bit, but young males are still the majority of illegal immigrants.
Young males, regardless of ethnicity or immigration status, or the group who commit the most crimes, particularly violent crimes.
Any group of young single males living on their own, away from their usual social structures and restrictions have high incidence of crime / trouble. As Rudyard Kipling said young men in barracks do not live the lives of plaster Saints.